Holding On

Doing my Best 

This year. Golly. It just keeps kicking my tuccas. Just when I think hey, maybe I can get back to normal...whatever that is..or was...nope. here's something else. I'm trying. I really really am. That's all a person can do right? I don't look to what I want to do next year anymore. Not even next month. Heck not even tomorrow. I have been dealing with the absolute worst brutal pain I have ever had to endure in my entire life, and at this point, honestly speaking all I can do is count the time down to when I can take my next meds. I had posted this picture above on my Instagram on 11 October! Woo hoo...starting a new panel...yay!  meh. I worked a little of the hill...but wasn't too jazzed about it because I cant blasted SEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. This stupid macular degeneration...my eyes are so wonky. I got new glasses, and thought they were great, but when it actually comes to stitching, I find I have to look to the side of what I want to focus on, in order to see it. It's very maddening.

Then I had to have a wisdom tooth pulled, things went south from there, and for the past how many 11 or 12 days all I can do is sit and twitch and writhe in pain. Thanks to a round of steroids, it is FINALLY starting to ease...enough that I was well enough to go get another endometrial biopsy yesterday.  While I was waiting to leave, pacing around, I decided to work this little tree. I have always loved the long french knot leaves on the original 17th c panels and wanted my tree to look like those. It doesn't. nothing new there LOL

One of the reasons it doesn't is because of the scale. It's too tiny. Could there be such a thing as too tiny? Ya, I think so. It's cute..but not how I wanted it to look. Am I going to take it out? HELL NO. The old me would have ripped the occasional thing out if I didn't like it. The me of now? Nope. She doesn't rip anything out, cause every stitch is its own little triumph. I don't really like the colours of the hillocks...don't really like this tree. But once everything else is on the panel, they will fit in just fine, and I will have this first ever long leg french knot hideous looking tree to compare with later ones I am going to make that will look better. I don't have time for ripping things out anymore.

It is easy to obsess and become hyper-focused on single elements as we stitch. Sometimes it's hard to envision the big picture...and that once all the glam is piled on, nobody is going to notice this hideous little tree...or a slight imperfection we ourselves pick out. I am going to take some sage advice from one of my children's role models growing up...and I'm going to  Just keep Swimming...Just keep Swimming.. until this casket carries me through to next year. Baby steps. I'll get there. YOU'LL get there.

Happy Stitching XOXO

2022 Heirloom Christmas Ornament Kit

 Skarlet Ladye is Available on Presale Now!

I am super excited to offer you this year's 17th c inspired embroidered ornament kit, Skarlet Ladye! Have a peek at the video above, she's really awesome. I said it before, and the more I have her out, this is absolutely my favorite of all the ornaments I have designed. You can click the tab at the top of the page to learn more about the kit and see exactly what is in it...or just click here.

Here is a look at some of the silks

There are 21 full spools of silks in this kit! There are 2 spools of metallic braids and a few other silks in lesser quantities on flat bobbins. Are you going to use alllllll of this silk on this ornament? Heck no! Some colours you may, but others you will have plenty left over to add to your stitching stash~ and these are glorious Au Ver a Soie silks in Ovale & Perlee. Lucious!!! With full spools, if you want to change the colours around, you should have enough of all to do so (except for the yellows).

Kits will ship in Mid November, or sooner if possible. 

And if you're wondering why I added the 17th c embroidered jacket tab to this post...well...I just may be planing on making a skarlet red embroidered jacket ;)

Happy Stitching!!

A lil peek!

2022 Heirloom Embroidered Ornament Kit

Skarlet Ladye 

Oh. my. gosh. I finished stitching the model for my 2022 annual Christmas ornament kit and it is so beautiful! I wish you could see it in person! Several years ago I was lucky enough to see a 17thc embroidered silk petticoat before it was auctioned, and I fell in love with it. The embroidery was fabulous, but what was most striking was the scarlet red silk it was stitched on.  Can you just imagine an embroidered red silk jacket!? (swoon)

I have wanted to make this ornament for some while, but could never find the right colour duchess silk satin. When I saw this satin earlier this year, I knew exactly what I wanted to make with it. I used some of my favorite motifs from the petticoat and designed what I think is my favorite ornament to date. It was super fun and pretty quick to stitch, so keep watching for the kit so you can make your own! 

If you would like to get on my annual ornament kit mailing list, just drop me an email at rlkinnison@yahoo.com

17th c Beadwork Class Starting 1 October

  Twelve Spots left!

If you are interested in learning the art of 17th c beadwork, aka beaded stumpwork, there are 12 spots left in my Beneath Thy Poft Oak class that starts 1 October. This is a twelve month long class, and I am not planning on offering it again until at least 2024, more likely 2025. You can learn more about here . 

Happy Stitching!

Special Blog Sale

Hand Painted Needlework Tools

I haven't had a blog sale in a while, and wanted to thank everyone for reading my blog, so I decided to offer these here first. I really do love to work wood and paint. These are hand painted in a very long, early 19th c process with watercolours.

There is only one of each,  I am not taking orders. If you are interested in purchasing, drop me a line at rlkinnison@yahoo.com~ Shipping is priority mail, and I will invoice you directly thru Paypal. I will mark an item as SOLD AFTER PAYMENT HAS BEEN RECEIVED. If I get multiple folks interested in an item, it will be first come, first served. Payment is due within 24 hours of invoice. If not received the item will be offered to the next person in line. 

14 spool Spool Palette~ hand made of poplar, painted in fall colour acorns and oak leaves

The spools of silk are NOT included

Signed and dated on the side, as seen above. 

Fall Spool Palette: SOLD

This is a large size thread winder, a little over 2.5" across. Hand made from quarter sawn sycamore

The back is painted with a single cute little acorn, and my signature/date.

Large Acorn Thread Winder: SOLD

I made three needle minders. If you are not familiar with what a needle minder is, it holds your needles and pins while you stitch. The front is placed on top of your stitching. A second magnet is placed behind your stitching, and that is what keeps it in place on your work. A view of the back can be seen below. Pictured from left to right are Octagon Squirrel, Small Round Acorns, and Octagon Acorns. These are made from really beautiful quarter sawn sycamore.

Octagon Squirrel Needle Minder: SOLD

Small Round Acorns Needle Minder: SOLD

Octagon Acorns Needle Minder: SOLD

Happy Stitching!

Future Class Dates...

 A closer look at my Beaded Stumpwork Casket

Here is a video sharing some closer looks at my beadwork casket. I chose to work my entire casket in beads, but there are literally oodles and oodles of extant 17th c silk embroideries that contain motifs worked in beads.

Registration is still open for my 17th century beadwork class, Beneath Thy Poft Oak. Class starts October 1st, 2022. I have had several folks ask me when I will be running it again, and the answer is honestly, probably not for some while. The class itself runs 12 months, so that puts me at 2024 for the next running. However, I am booked for in person teaching then, and as well my last is graduating from high school, so it may not be 2024, more like 2025 or 26 if I can still get the materials for it. 

You can learn more about it/enroll by clicking the link to my Online Academy classes at the TOP of this page, right under the blog header. 

Happy Stitching!

So I was Thinking....

 And Had This Idea...

 I shared this picture the other day on Instagram(link to my Instagram is on the right in the sidebar under links)...I love this picture, even though I absolutely really do 100% hate seeing my reflection or having my picture taken. 

I was filming my casket for YouTube and was just vegging out staring at it and saw myself there. Immediately I thought of the early ones, and how absolutely awesome it would have been to SEE who made them~ who's reflections those mirrors had projected for so many years. It's been a few years since I made this one, but I still look basically the same, so I printed this picture out and it will forever live in my casket. 

I hope my fellow caskateers will do the same!